Ferndale decision on fire layoffs expected next week

Ferndale Council members will have to meet again Tuesday as they work to cut $1 million from the upcoming budget.

City Council members also are mulling how many of four federally funded firefighters will be laid off now that the federal grants are expiring.

Officials met for a budget session Monday but were unable to deal with all final staff recommendations on where cuts should be made.

“So far we have gotten through budget recommendations for three city departments but still have to deal with the fire department and other key issues,” Mayor Dave Coulter said.

The council will meet at City Hall at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.

City Manager April Lynch said city officials will have a public hearing later this month before budget cuts are finalized.

Ferndale faces about a $1 million deficit for the 2014 fiscal year that begins July 1.

Officials also are working to address an anticipated shortfall of about $2 million for fiscal year 2015.

Residents a few years ago passed a 5-year millage that expires in May 2015. The millage maximum is 5.5 mills.

The millage started at 3 mills, increased the next year to 3.5 mills, and will rise to 4.6 mills in July, Lynch said.

A single mill raises about $500,000 annually for the city, she added.

The plan for cutting $1 million from the budget includes withdrawing $400,000 set aside for public improvements, and $200,000 from street improvement projects.

“We’ll have to get the remainder — about $300,000 — from wherever we can in our other expenditures,” Lynch said.

Since city officials work on two years’ worth of budgets at a time, a bigger financial challenge is the $2 million they will ultimately have to trim for the fiscal year beginning in July 2014.

“We’re trying to find alternatives for next year to avoid layoffs,” Lynch said.

An unexpected further decline in property values, and city tax revenue, accounts for most of the impending budget cuts.

City officials have said that county projections showed Ferndale’s tax base was expected to decline only 1 percent this year. However, property values fell 6 percent, leaving the city with significantly less property tax revenues than anticipated.